Current situation of knowledge, practice skill of nurses on wound care and some related factors according to Vietnamese nursing competency standards: A study in a hospital in Hanoi

Background: The introduction of Vietnamese Nursing Competency Standards in 2012 has urged the needs for re-assessment of nursing skills, with the aim to improve the quality of the training on wound care in country.

Purposes: The study aimed to describe knowledge and practice of nurses on wound care and identify some the related factors in order to make the recommendation for improvement of the nursing care competency.

Methods: This a cross-sectional descriptive prospective study was conducted in Ha Dong General Hospital from July 2023 to October 2023.

Results: 76 clinical nurses were enrolled with the mean age was 35.6±6.8 years, female nurses most commonly accounted for 89.5%. Notably, the lowest average score in terms of knowledge was observed in suture removal (9.74±3.21) and pressure ulcer wound care (6.93±1.63). In terms of practice, the lowest average score was recorded for pain assessment and bleeding control (7.91±1.33). Furthermore, the study revealed a statistically significant correlation between knowledge and working experience (p<0.05). Nurses with a good level of knowledge were found to have a 4.66 times higher likelihood of demonstrating good practice (OR=4.66).

Conclusions and recommendations: The factors related to the competency of wound care of nurses were found in the study strongly suggest the need for improvement of quality of training in order to align with the established standards.